James From Cali's Tanks Thread *Updates 5/14/07*

[James From Cali]

Well I came up with an idea to use my black Gravel. I made a little area that no plants will grow in unless I think it does after letting my plants grow in a bit. I made a river shape from the back to the front of the tank and my tetras are enjoying it as I speak. I used stones my manager gave me to try and hide the joining of flourite and Black gravel. That is the background of the tank. Now for the Pros and Cons

PROS
Plants have been growing in healthily.
I had gotten Microsword for a foreground.
Fish seem to have more swimming room.

CONS
Bought 2 Otos, 1 died the other disappeared.
Had 5 Neon Tetras, now have 4 due to one disappearing.
Had the flourite cloud on me when adding water to my tank after getting everything situated in the order wanted.
Have too much Anachris.

Now the disappearing Fish is a mystery to me. I cant understand where they could have gone. No dead bodies on the floor or in the filter. Another one of lifes mysteries....

Now for whats in my tank:

Fauna:
2 Platy
Male Betta
4 Neon Tetra

Flora:
Green Cambomba
Sunset Hygro
Brazilian Pennywort
Moneywort
Ceylon Hygro
Rotala Rotundifolia(maybe sp. green)
Anachris
Primrose
Java Moss
Petite Nana
Wendtii Crypt
Crypt Spiralis(always thought it was balansae but not)
Microsword

I have a bunch of Anachris(Thanks tpl*co) and will be giving some away at the next SAPS Meeting. I have DIY CO2 and Dose Nitrates, Sulfate, Phosphate. Now for pics:

Full Tank(sort of)

Green Cambomba, Sunset Hygro, and others.

Petite nana on one of the overlooming pieces of driftwood.

Microsword in front right of tank.

Microsword in front left of tank.

Java Moss on another overlooming piece of Drifwood.


Sorry for the long post but thought share my current tank.

[James From Cali]

These are a bit better I hope(but they are a bit smaller as well).





I am going to reduce the amount of Anachris I have but what else should I do to this tank to make it more......flowy?

Thanks for looking ,
James

[RESGuy]

It looks really nice IMO, though those pictures are pretty blurry (no offense). And Anarchis is awesome Sorry for your fish disappearances as well.

[James From Cali]

Yeah still using the cheap camera. Need to see if my manager has a camera.

[RESGuy]

Originally Posted by James From Cali

Yeah still using the cheap camera. Need to see if my manager has a camera.

lol no problem this is a plant forum not a photography forum
If you don't mind me asking, where do you work? Your boss seems to be into aquariums? (an LFS?) Just curious.

[James From Cali]

Originally Posted by RESGuy

lol no problem this is a plant forum not a photography forum
If you don't mind me asking, where do you work? Your boss seems to be into aquariums? (an LFS?) Just curious.

LOL my apartment manager. Her ex was into cameras and she has a bunch that she dont know anything about. She is too lazy to get up into her closet to grab a few.

[dufus]

Looks pretty cool dude. I like that you have hardscape in this one. Have fun funding dead fish in ther though.

[James From Cali]

Originally Posted by dufus

Looks pretty cool dude. I like that you have hardscape in this one. Have fun funding dead fish in ther though.

The hardscape was from previous ideas. I had the stones from my first attempt with the plants(like in January), the driftwood that has the anubias on it was from the aquascape after, and the moss driftwood was from my latest. This was a combination of them all creating what I call a "river" in the tank.

I doubt I would find dead fish due to there are no bodies. I checked the entire tank. Wednesday is water change day and I will check then for lost fishies.

For the project in my sig I have this see through water change bowl that is just big enough for a female betta. I was planning on getting Shrimp(Ghost) but was unsure on plants besides Moss. What do you guys think, instead of me starting a new thread about this I'd post it here. Also what should I do as far as filtration?

I dont think even an Azoo(spl) Palm filter would work on this due to the height.

Thanks,
James

[jebarj90]

I like the tank so far. It should grow out pretty well. You just need a better camera!!! No offense. I just wanna see more pictures with better res.

[dufus]

They're way better than his older pics, you can see what they are now(no offense james)

[James From Cali]

None taken. I think these were 10x better. One of my Platys had died from stress. He was harrassed by the other platy.

[daFrimpster]

I noticed you have 13 different plant species. That seems like a lot for 10 gal. Not much room for all of them to grow out. It looks pretty darn cool right now though.

[James From Cali]

Originally Posted by daFrimpster

I noticed you have 13 different plant species. That seems like a lot for 10 gal. Not much room for all of them to grow out. It looks pretty darn cool right now though.

I totally agree. Right now htese are the species I have:

Green Cambomba
Sunset Hygro
Brazilian Pennywort
Ceylon Hygro
Rotala Rotundifolia(maybe sp. green)
Anachris
Primrose
Java Moss
Petite Nana
Wendtii Crypt
Crypt Spiralis(always thought it was balansae but not)
Microsword

I am willing to get rid of some at the next SAPS meeting but sure what. I want to keep the Java Moss, Petite nana, Microsword, Wendtii Crypt, and Rotala. What else should I keep?

[James From Cali]

Oh and should I upgrade lighting first or CO2? I been reading alot of debates on this and its been leaning over to Lighting.

[dufus]

Lighting!lighting!lighting!
Co2 won't do much good until you hit the right lighting levels!
it's like a car(import mind you), if you install a turbo kit, it's a lot of money, but a lot of horsepower, where as is you get the cylinders bored, its a lot of moey and not as much HP. the co2 will boost planbt growth, but not as much as lighting.